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Thursday, October 12, 2017

This blog is a replica or copy of the one created by the students and myself at Hunua School beginning in Term 3 of 2015 as part of my studies with The MindLab by Unitec. The reason for it being a copy is that when I left the school we didn't do 'Google Takeout' and my account is now deleted so some of the artefacts on the pages are not able to be read or photos viewed. I still have these so I've recreated them here as a record for all of us.
If you'd like to read the comments, please go to the original blog at The Creator Ops STEAM. The blog and what we achieved was used as an example by The MindLab at Unitec to show what is possible when you let students loose, give them the skills they need and trust them to do the most awesome job to create a fantastic learning environment where creativity and imagination can flourish.

The blog is largely the work of the students, in their own words. The design of the room - in an unused classroom - was also theirs. We went through the whole Design Thinking Process together. I was their guide and taught them the skills they needed but they definitely drove the whole process. It was an incredible amount of hard work - physically as well as mentally but it was the most amazing challenge. I think I spent most of Term 4 and definitely the whole of the summer break covered in paint!

The room was finally completed at the end of Term 1, 2016. I am no longer at Hunua as I left to begin my PhD but, in the words of one of the very wise students... "With each new footstep comes a new idea" so I know the room will be put to great use as it's not about the room or the 'stuff' that's in it. It's about the ideas, the creativity and the collaboration that happens in that environment. It's always about the people and the opportunities and possibilities.

If you'd like to read more about the journey along the more academic side, I've included links to my research and my own learning journey below.

Original post by ParisHi everyone! My name is Paris and my friend Lily and I are making a robot a called Meccanoid. We have fixed the mistakes that someone did on the other robot already. That was a 2 foot tall robot but now we are starting again but this time with a 4 foot one. It's almost as tall as a lot of the kids in the class. We also have other people that are helping us along the way if someone is sick or anything like that. Their names are Stella and Ricardo. So thank you to those guys and I hope you keep helping us if we need it! It is really fun to make this robot and even as I'm typing Lily is building the robot. We are so thank full to Mrs Hughes for making this room and getting the robots. It's a really good experience for us and we really like doing it. Well anyway, here's a picture of us building the robot now!

Monday, May 16, 2016

Original post by SamanthaLast week the roofing tiles were painted red, orange, green, blue and yellow and they look amazing soon the Creator Ops STEAM room will be finished and ready for everyone to enjoy I'm sorry I don't have a picture to show you but hopefully I will soon. Keep reading the Creator Ops STEAM Blog for more updates. This is Samantha signing out.

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

For the budgeting the whole class worked together as a team to complete the Budgeting side of things but there was a few us that that gathered all the information about items that we were buying which included… GST amount, the item, where to buy it from, the price and the amount of stock that we wanted to buy, and the purpose of buying particular items and how they fitted in with our learning purposes.

It took the three or four of us about two or three days to finish the Budgeting side of things.

Here are some of the problems that we had to solve when we encountered them.

The first problem we encountered was the arguing of who was doing what.

Second of all was overspending the first time we calculated the total price we counted that we had a 50 cents left but we had counted wrong as we found later on.

Here is the list of what we got.

AMOUNT

WHAT

PRICE

GST Inclusive/Exclusive

2

Makey Makey - nicegear.com

$168

Inclusive $25.20

2

Basic Arduino Kit

$128.84

Inclusive $16.80

5

5mm Flashing RGB LED’s Fast (5 Pcs)

$5.70

Inclusive $0.75

5

5mm Flashing RGB LED’s Slow (5 Pcs)

$5.70

Inclusive $0.75

25

Super Bright LED - Blue

$45

Inclusive $5.75

1

Super Bright LED Yellow 25 packs

$15.07

Inclusive $1.97

1

Super Bright LED Red 25 packs

$15.07

Inclusive $1.97

1

Super Bright LED Green 25 packs

$15.07

Inclusive $1.97

1

Conductive Fabric 12”x13” Ripstop

$22.65

Inclusive $2.95

2

Conductive Thread Bobbin 6ft (18.28m)

$11.18

Inclusive $1.46

2

Conductive Stainless Fibre - 1oz

$22.56

Inclusive $2.94

2

Conductive Ribbon 1 yard

$22.56

Inclusive $2.94

4

Conductive Ribbon - 4-conductor (connector)

$11.36

Inclusive $1.48

TOTAL

$488.76

$11.24 remainder

$64.96

2

Intermediate Developement Kit for Arduino

$257.60

Inclusive $33.60

2

Alligator Test Leads

$10.00

Inclusive $1.50

1

Basic Arduino Kit

$64.42

Inclusive $8.40

1

Makey Makey Deluxe Kit

$94.00

Inclusive 14.10

3

Thumb Joystick Module

$17.88

Inclusive $2.34

5

5mm Flashing RGB LED’s Fast (5 Pcs)

$5.70

Inclusive $0.75

6

5mm Flashing RGB LED’s Slow (5 Pcs)

$6.84

Inclusive $0.90

25

Super Bright LED - Blue

$45

Inclusive $5.75

1

Super Bright LED Yellow 25 packs

$15.07

Inclusive $1.97

1

Super Bright LED Red 25 packs

$15.07

Inclusive $1.97

1

Super Bright LED Green 25 packs

$15.07

Inclusive $1.97

1

Conductive Fabric 12”x13” Ripstop

$22.65

Inclusive $2.95

1

5mm Triple output LED RGB - Common Anode (5 pcs)

$1.98

Inclusive $0.26

1

5mm Triple output LED RGB - Common Cathode (5 pcs)

$1.98

Inclusive $0.26

2

Basic Kit for Arduino (without Arduino)

$73.48

Inclusive $9.58

11

Infrared LED

$19.80

Inclusive $2.53

To get all of the products above we tried two different website but one was cheaper than the other website so we got everything of that.

If your looking for some of the equipment above this is the website we used to get all of these items...
http://www.mindkits.co.nz/

What is the 'Breakout Space'?
The Breakout Space is a small space to 'Breakout' and have a area where it is just quiet and so you can produce more ideas. It is an area to give your brain a bit of a break.

The purpose of the Breakout Space we created was so you can get away from the noise and give your brain a break from the pressure.

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About Me

I am a teacher and learner who is passionate about helping students take control of their learning become excited about the possibilities that exist.

I have completed my MTchg and in 2016 completed a PostGrad qualification through The MindLab by Unitec which I loved. I am now working on my Doctor of Education through the University of Otago while relieving at various schools.

I have also been involved in software development and helped develop a learning and teaching tool which is designed to foster school and home collaboration, share learning locally and globally through video and text and build student confidence by providing an autocue as part of the recording process.

I'm passionate about the possibilities that learning in the 21st century has for all learners. I think the future of education lies in Global Education and connecting our classrooms - flattening the classroom! eLearning is one of the key factors in motivation and engagement for all of us involved in education if we want to meet the needs of our learners and of ourselves.

I have a motto - "We're all teachers and we're all learners in our room". Some very wise Year 5/6 students of mine came up with this a few years ago and I've hung onto it ever since. It's a powerful statement.